Launch 2012: Day Two Photo Gallery

It’s Launch 2012 — the photo tour. Check out some of the startups who showed up on day two of Launch 2012 in San Francisco March 8, 2012. Here are the folks from Retail Tower, a startup to help small- and medium-sized companies optimize their products for such ecommerce channels as Shopify, Magento, OSCommerce, Zencart and PrestaShop. Pictured here: Retail Tower’s Victorial Haynes, Blaise Bayou, Michael Szymanski and Jorn Lyseggen. Check out who else showed up at Launch 2012 in San Francisco this week.

Launch 2012 Day Two. Energy and innovation reigns in the demo pit.

Exec ed Joy Ma and I started out the day by checking in at Alltuition, a startup that aims to make applying for financial aid easier.

Math whiz Sue Khim and Silas Hundt, pictured below, say they dropped out of The University of Chicago to pursue their dreams of making it simple to find money for college. Think of this new service as kind of a TurboTax for financial aid. The service costs $89 — about what you’d pay for a single college application.

Photo credit: Julie Blaustein

They didn’t expect to win — I snapped this pic before they took home one of top Launch 2012 prizes.

Retail Tower is a startup to help small- and medium-sized companies optimize their products for such ecommerce channels as Shopify, Magento, OSCommerce, Zencart and PrestaShop.

On the go and need transportation asap? Scoot is a kind of ZipCar for scooters. It lets you use your mobile device to locate a scooter and then scoot around town — with an Apple iPhone-integrated dashboard. Scoot staffers Eric Campbell and Jen Lightfoot show off their clean tech transport, below. Scoot took its planned service out of stealth mode here at Launch 2012.

Photo credit: Julie Blaustein

Tracking purchases is a pain for buyers. It’s even harder for those who ship product. That’s the problem Aftership is targeting with its new product. Aftership, winner at Global Startup Battle and Startup Weekend for Merchants, helps merchants track deliveries. That’s Andrew Chan and Teddy Chan of Aftership, pictured below.

Photo credit: Julie Blaustein

Between Us is a new social media site for couples. Jaeuk Park showed us his slick app, already gaining in popularity in Korea, Japan and China — where, traditionally, couples like to keep things private.

Photo credit: Julie Blaustein

If you haven’t got a thing to wear, you’re the ideal customer for Style You. It catalogs your wardrobe, founders said, and checks the type of event you’re attending and your mood, too. Pictured are Style You staffers Kelly Church (aka the Style You model), Jon Lam and Tom Lam.

Photo credit: Julie Blaustein

We couldn’t pass up a return visit to Sound Selecta. We put the spotlight on them in our Day One Demo Pit story. This is music tech for creatives. Execs were jamming with a guitar and iPad in the Demo Pit.

The event ends and participants wind down just before the real party starts. Ready, set … schmooz!
Photo credit: Julie Blaustein